Speed skaters hit their stride at team challenge
Posted By By Shawn Slaght, SHAWN@THECRAG.CA
Posted 8 months ago
Pam Doyle/Banff Crag & Canyon. Banff/Canmore skater Keegan McIsaac, AJ Dimas from Calgary, Lace Fibke from Calgary and Sam Pollock from Calgary compete at the Canmore Team Challenge speedskating competition at the Canmore Rec Centre on Saturday.
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The Banff/Canmore Speed Skating Club took home eight medals at their second annual team challenge meet over the weekend at the Canmore Recreation Centre.
With all of the great results, the local club also won the team challenge trophy by accumulating the most points.
The races took on a new format this year. Instead of running distance races all day there were fun events for the younger skaters in the morning and the distance races took place in the afternoon.
"We had purely fun events in the morning," Banff/Canmore Speed Skating Club president Ian Mellors said. "We had 24 skaters come out to do a variety of relay obstacle courses, made-up games and races purely for the fun of it."
Even with the large medal haul, Mellors said many of the Banff/Canmore skaters beat personal bests.
"The results were really good," he said. "Then again it is the personal bests that you want. Some of the kids are getting older so it isn't about times. It is about how you race. When you get older it isn't a sprint every time out."
There were about 34 skaters from Banff, Canmore, Lethbridge and Calgary that took part in the distance events in the afternoon.
"It was a half day meet," Mellors said. "It is a little small but it is designed to make it more easy to participate in."
In division one, the winner was Paul Cooney of Lethbridge, who won all four of his races. Second was Emily Mellors from the Banff/Canmore Speed Skating Club with three second-place finishes and a third, and her teammate Siobhan Mellors in third with two third-place finishes and two fourth-place finishes.
Keegan McIsaac of the Banff/Canmore Speed Skating Club won division two by placing first in all of his races. Lance Fibke of Calgary was second with two second-place finishes, a third place and a fourth. Samuel Pollock of Calgary was third with three third-place finishes and a fourth place.
Lethbridge's Aaron Cooney won division three with two wins and two second-place finishes. Connor Howe of the Banff/Canmore Speed Skating Club was second with two wins, a second place finish and a fifth place finish. Lois Ferraro of Calgary was third with two fourth-place finishes, a second place finish and a third place finish.
Winning division four was Justin Cameron of Calgary with three wins and a second place finish. Second was Callum Clague of Calgary with two wins and two second-place finishes. Third was Mikaela Holthuis of Banff/Canmore with three third-place finishes and a fourth.
The division five winner was Joshua Holthuis of Banff/Canmore with four wins. Magnus Ellis of Banff/Canmore was second with two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes. Third was Jeremy Neilson of Banff/Canmore with two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes.
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